Bill Kristol says President Donald Trump has to steer clear of having macho head-butting sessions with Russian President Vladimir Putin if anything good is to come out of their upcoming one-on-one powwow.
"I'm less concerned with what exactly he says to Putin and more with the general stance he takes," Kristol, editor-at-large of The Weekly Standard, said Wednesday to Newsmax TV's Steve Malzberg.
"Trump — he sort of likes the idea of him and Putin having a tough guy talk where they kind of agree on a lot of things and divide up the world or something. I don't know. He's got to resist that tendency."
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On the question of whether Trump should give Putin a finger-wagging on Russia's interference with the 2016 presidential election which some believe helped Trump beat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Kristol told Malzberg:
"He should mention it I think. It was a real unfriendly act to a country like ours.... So I'm for him mentioning it."
Trump and Putin are expected to meet at this week's G-20 Summit in Germany.
Trump will have to balance a working relationship on issues like Syria and fighting ISIS while showing European leaders the United States will be a check on Moscow's aggression.
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